When Hassan Ismaïl thinks of his hometown, Aïta El-Chaab, what comes to mind above all is the ocher soil of its fields. “It was a land rich in metals, but it required a lot of water”explains this 64-year-old farmer. His house, his pride, was located in front of the Al-Raheb watchtower, installed by Israeli soldiers on the demarcation line. A 200 square meter building, with marble columns and an impeccably maintained garden, which aroused the admiration of its neighbors.
“I put all my heart into it”confesses Hassan, smoking his hookah in the bare living room of the Tripoli apartment where he has been staying with his family since the end of September. Their third refuge in thirteen months of war. On October 24, he identified the ruins of his house in satellite images. The last time he was able to visit him was in August, during a friend’s funeral, a rare moment of calm since October 8, 2023, the date of the start of the war launched by Hezbollah against Israel, in support of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Loop. He had filmed the damage: broken windows, broken furniture and, in the corner, the water pipe he had smoked before his hasty departure.
Israeli bombardments began to fall on their village after the first shots from Hezbollah. His wife, Hoda, their pregnant daughter, and their family fled to Nabatiyé, about fifty kilometers further north. Soon only Hezbollah fighters remained and Aïta El-Chaab was transformed into a barracks city. Before the war, it was a small, prosperous town, with 12,000 permanent residents and twice as many in the summer, when members of the diaspora came to spend their holidays. Pharmacies, boutiques, restaurants and even a gas station attracted residents from surrounding towns.
Israeli soldiers entered there in mid-October. “The Israelis planted a flag in my town. I saw the photos »Hassan said with eyes full of sadness. In a video posted on X on October 22, half a dozen buildings collapsed in an instant, following an explosion that covered the ancient village in a cloud of dust and debris. In total, two-thirds of the buildings were demolished or damaged, according to an analysis by the infographic service of the Worldprepared from data provided by researchers Corey Scher, from New York University, and Jamon Van Den Hoek, from Oregon State University.
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